This invention relates to beverage dispensing systems of the general type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,810. In this type of dispensing apparatus, a hand held nozzle is connected to a beverage source by a hose, and beverage dispensing is controlled by one or more push button type plungers mounted in the hand held nozzle. This type of dispensing apparatus allows the person who is dispensing beverages the freedom of filling individual glasses by a simple push button actuation after positioning the nozzle at the desired glass. This is in contrast to the use of separate containers which have to be individually lifted and replaced, and the use of a set of fixed nozzles which require positioning of the glass at the nozzle prior to nozzle actuation.
In the past, the hand held dispensing nozzle has been utilized for dispensing carbonated soft drinks and the like where the amount of beverage to be dispensed is determined by the size of the container being filled. In another application of the hand held dispensing apparatus, the user desires to dispense a measured amount of the beverage, typically a predetermined number of fluid ounces of a wine or alcoholic beverage.
Metering pumps have been utilized in the past for metering liquids and an electrically powered metering pump has been used for dispensing measured amounts of beverage. However the electric powered pump requires an external source of power for control and operation, making the dispensing apparatus more complicated and more difficult to maintain, as well as having electric power adjacent a hand held liquid system, a situation which always raises safety concerns.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for dispensing measured amounts of liquid which does not require any electrical power source and which is self powered from the liquid being dispensed. These and other objects, advantages, features and results will more fully appear in the course of the following description.